A Marine from 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, uses a metal detector to sweep a culvert during a route reconnaissance mission of Route Red, which extends from Highway 1 to Shir Ghazay, Jan. 2. The purpose of the mission was to document inclines and declines in the route, sharpness of curves, the shortest width during the route, and where culverts were located or needed to be placed on the route to prevent wash out. Photo by Cpl. Meredith Brown

Marine engineers with 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) have nearly completed two major route construction and improvement projects in Helmand province.

As of Jan. 3, elements of the Okinawa, Japan-based 9th Engineer Support Battalion completed the road surfacing phases of Routes Red and 611, which each provide north and south passage on their respective sides of the Helmand River. Additional measures are now being put into place over the course of the next month to ensure their permanence, while also marking total project completion.

“We’ll continue minor improvements along both routes, including culvert emplacements,” said Capt. Christopher Kaprielian, a native of San Mateo, Calif., and operations officer for 9th ESB.

The installation of culverts, Kaprielian explained, will allow for proper drainage of rain water, thus preventing the roadways from simply washing away.

Two Marines from 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, use a metal detector to sweep a culvert during a route reconnaissance mission of Route Red, which extends from Highway 1 to Shir Ghazay, Jan. 3. The purpose of the mission was to document inclines and declines in the route, sharpness of curves, the shortest width during the route, and where culverts were located or needed to be placed on the route to prevent wash out. Photo by Cpl. Meredith Brown

Work on the routes began last year with 9th ESB’s predecessors, the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 7th ESB, which completed nearly half of the work before going home in late November.

“A lot of cross coordination was involved,” said Kaprielian. “The combined effort was truly unique.”

In terms of Route Red alone, he noted expert integration across the Marine Air-Ground Task Force to secure the volatile region through which Route Red intersects. Support from Regimental Combat Teams 6 and 8 was especially critical in allowing the engineers to continue construction efforts.

The enhanced roads are essential to International Security Assistance Force operations, and perhaps most importantly, the livelihoods of Afghan locals in the region due to the proximity of the routes to several major population centers. Safe roadways will present a viable means of transportation and facilitate economic expansion well into the future.

Route Red connects Gereshk and Shir Ghazay, while Route 611 serves as the main thoroughfare through the Sangin and Kajaki Districts.

Not unlike Route Red, the region through which 611 traces was also a hotbed for insurgent activity. Operation Eastern Storm, a major offensive spearheaded by the Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, launched last October to secure the Upper Sangin Valley from the Taliban-led insurgency. The secured and improved route will now allow ground convoys to deliver equipment and parts required to install a third turbine at the Kajaki Dam, located northeast of the village of Kajaki.

The dam was built in 1953, and according to the United States Agency for International Development, the additional turbine is part of an ongoing project to bring more reliable power and irrigation to the region. Once operational, this enhancement will improve energy distribution through Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

Story by Sgt. Justin Shemanski
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Sgt. Randy Elmore, team leader, Zombie Response Team, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, secures a reconstruction project along Highway 4 in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, April 8. The construction is part of a commander�s emergency response program-funded reconstruction project, which includes repairs to 7.8 kilometers of road from the Pakistan border into Afghanistan. Elmore is a Surprise, Ariz., native deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C. Photo by Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski.

A vital highway reconstruction project to repair stretches of road near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is progressing ahead of schedule.

Highway 4 is often referred to as the “Gateway to Kandahar.” The stretch of road is the economic corridor that allows passage from the Weesh crossing, near the Pakistan border, to Kandahar City in Afghanistan.

“The project is significant because most of the commerce between the two countries in the southern region travels along that route,” said Col. James Edwards, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade commander, deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C. “It is significant to International Security Assistance Force because it’s the number two ground line of communication. Many of our supplies travel through this area. It is also important because of international trade, the local economy and for ISAF to sustain operations here.”

The project, funded by the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, repairs 7.8 kilometers of road from the border to Spin Boldak.

“Many trucks that pass through here are overloaded, because they don’t have any transportation inspectors to inspect the weight of the vehicles,” said Jon Jorgenson, construction representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jorgenson oversees the Afghan-contracted project that began late December 2010.

“Some of these vehicles may be two or three times the weight of vehicles in the U.S., so the road sank and was unsafe,” the engineer said.

Local laborers dug up the dilapidated asphalt and soft dirt previously laid down. They set and compacted a base layer and aggregate, and will soon lay a new layer of asphalt.

Additionally, ruts and medians were removed from the highway to expand the the road into four lanes in the future and ease the flow of traffic.

Pfc. Brandon Fender, enabler response team member, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, provides security at a reconstruction project along Highway 4 in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, April 8. The highway is an economic corridor that allows passage from the Weesh crossing, near the Pakistan border, to Kandahar City in Afghanistan and is vital to the trade industry in the south. Fender is an Omaha, Neb., native deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C. Photo by Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski.

Jorgensen said a project of this size would typically take six months to a year to complete, but it is progressing faster than expected and should be finished by late June.

“The contractor is moving along very well,” Jorgensen said. “Because the company is so good, we can move along with the project. It’s probably the best highway project I’ve seen from Qalat to Spin Boldak’s border; it’s going to be a good road.”

Commuters and delivery truck drivers crossing into Afghanistan will not be the only people to benefit from the reconstruction and durability of the new road. The trade-based communities who line the highway also profit.

“You can’t drive along this part of highway and not be amazed by the amount of bustling economic activity that is out there,” said Edwards. “With a better road, it will support more traffic and further assist the growth in the area. It will benefit the people of Spin Boldak and extend the development benefits, ultimately bringing stability to the region.”

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Story by Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski

The 1430th Engineer Company, horizontal construction engineers, and the 744th Engineer Company, 54th Engineer Battalion, in cooperation with the Afghan government and Afghan national security forces, begin the process of rebuilding the roads in eastern Afghanistan’s Khogyani and Sherzad districts, Feb. 8. The approximately $5 million effort includes six separate projects – three asphalt and three cobblestone – spanning nearly 43 kilometers.

Engineers attached to 1st Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Bastogne, in cooperation with the Afghan government and Afghan National Security Forces began the process of rebuilding damaged roads in the Khogyani and Sherzad Districts of Nangarhar province in early February.

The process begins by tearing up the old surfaces damaged by frequent roadside bombs. The damaged roads made travel to Jalalabad difficult for those living in the area.

The job of tearing up the old road falls to U.S. Army Capt. Jason Rolling of Marquette, Mich., commander of the 1430th Engineer Company. In addition to offloading equipment, his team also looks for and removes command wires or detonation cord that could be attached to old improvised explosive devices.

“That’s the intent of this ripping, to get down deep enough to find these wires, to find this [detonation] cord,” said Rolling. “… Rip it all up … grade it back out … and pack it all down.”

Members of the 1430th Eng. Company, horizontal construction engineers, and the 744th Eng. Company, 54th Eng. Battalion, perform route clearance patrols and complete the road repair while soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 61st Cavalry Regiment provide security.

That cooperation and combined effort are a big part of the project, according to U.S. Army Lt. Col. William B. Johnson of Bristol, Tenn., squadron commander for Task Force Panther.

The approximately $5 million effort includes six projects spanning the nearly 43 kilometers between the two districts – three asphalt and three cobblestone.

“The local people have already expressed appreciation for the work we’re doing,” said Johnson. “They are very excited about having a better road that will hold up in the rainy season, that won’t wash out, that’ll prevent insurgents from putting bombs in the road, so it’s safer for [travellers].”

The Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army will provide security on the road with checkpoints, patrols and continued interaction with the locals.

“In addition, police in the Memla area will continue to do local patrols and provide security in the area when the roadwork is finished and continue to over watch the route while the Afghan contractors come in to do the long-term paving,” he continued. “We will rely upon them to provide security for the local Afghan contractors that do the improvements to the route.”

The project is scheduled to be completed mid-March.

“I’m also proud to have such motivated and dedicated Afghan forces to partner with, to take responsibility for their own security in this area and improve things for their own people,” said Johnson. “They are a great team, great partners to work with, and I look forward to continuing to work with them.”

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Story by Spc. Richard Daniels Jr.

In the mountains of Afghanistan, three miles as the crow flies can often be a very long way. Roads are vital and the ability to build them is one of our most important tools in solving the terrorist threat.

Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, are improving accessibility into the Lal Por District of the Nangahar province by building a bridge and improving three miles of road.

Prior to the construction, access was limited to small vehicles and those walking, isolating the villages in the Reneh-Parchaw area of the district.

“Isolation creates a situation that can and will be exploited by enemies of the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said Lt. Col. Patrick Daniel, Special Troops Battalion commander and Hot Springs, Ark. native. “People who are not reached by the legitimate government will be reached and exploited by the enemies of the government in an insurgency.”

Since the completion of the project, mine resistant ambush protected vehicles and large cargo trucks can now gain access into the area, enabling International Security Assistance Forces to reach out to local citizens that may not have seen them before.

Daniel further explained how projects like this help establish trust and confidence in the Afghan government and the U.S. forces assisting them. “The best way we can counter the enemies of Afghanistan in these areas is by assisting the government in creating access and reaching the people of remote areas like Reneh and Parchaw. This operation was a definite positive step in that direction,” he said.

Despite terrain and security issues, the project was completed in three days by Soldiers from Charlie Troop, 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment.

The troops also helped widen, smooth and harden certain stretches of the road between Lal Por village and Reneh while integrating with Afghan national security forces to establish security along the route.

“Because the road has been so restrictive, the government has not been able to provide large-scale projects in the area. As a result of this inability, the people have felt abandoned,” said Capt. Jay Bessey, officer in charge of the project, from Greenville, Mich. “We wanted to use this project to show them that, at the behest of their sub-governor, we could and would support them. Hopefully, this project ties them closer to the government and opens the door to increased security through a prolonged ANSF presence.”

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By Army Spc. Brandon Sandefur
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division